NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A college athletics association is taking a strong stance to ban transgender athletes from women's sports.
Three universities in the Mid-state are a part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, which made this decision that's sparking debate.
The national small-college organization's Council of Presidents approved the new policy in a 20-0 vote. Fisk University, Cumberland University in Lebanon, and UT Southern in Pulaski are a part of the NAIA and will have to adopt these rules.
The NAIA is over about 249 mostly small colleges and about 83,000 student-athletes in more than 25 sports.
The policy also blocks transgender women or non-binary students who are receiving certain hormone therapy. A student who has begun hormone therapy may participate in activities such as workouts, practices and team activities, but not in interscholastic competition.
The president of the NAIA says the reason for the policy is to create fairness and competition.
"We know there are a lot of different opinions out there," said NAIA President Jim Carr. "For us, we believed our first responsibility was to create fairness and competition in the NAIA."
The rule applies to all sports except for competitive cheer and competitive dance, which are open to all students. The decision has gotten push back from a number of groups like the National Women's Law Center.
The senior counsel of the center calls it unacceptable and blatant discrimination.
"It's important to recognize that these discriminatory policies don't enhance fairness in competition. Instead, they send a message of exclusion and reinforce dangerous stereotypes that harm all women," said Shiwali Patel.
The NAIA is believed to be the first to mandate that athletes compete according to their assigned sex at birth.
There are still so many families in East Tennessee hurting following the floods from Hurricane Helene in September. That made this year's running of the Santa Train extra special for many families in the northeast part of the state. This special Santa Express has been making an annual run in part of Appalachia for over 80 years.
-Lelan Statom
